The drought is taking its toll on some plants, especially the young plants affected by the warmer winter. Some fruit trees, like the plums, did not flower as expected. However, the coffee plants prove why polyculture helps cushion the effects of less ideal weather patterns. Our ground and potted coffee trees enjoyed the warm winter weather. We have been watering them once weekly, so they flowered and fruited heavily.
However, the lack of rain hot, windy days and nights caused the ripe coffee cherries to air dry on the trees. The coffee cherries were easier to pick because they ripened and dried simultaneously. We sun-dried them with the pulp and skin for an additional week. This method of drying harvested coffee cherries with the skin is called the natural (dry) process. The resulting beans produce rich, sweet, bold, thick and complex flavoured coffee for which Ethiopian coffee is renowned. However, their process does not include drying the beans on the trees. That aspect is Our Subtropical Eden’s initiative. They worked out well during this season.
The tree-dried cherries were:
- Less heavy to carry
- Easier to harvest.
- Dried quickly in the local woven trays (Lubango)
- Easier to de-pulp by hand.
- The flavour of the cherries and beans was sweet and complex.
- The dry beans are not likely to get mouldy, so that the coffee beans will last longer.
We have more than enough coffee to last until the next harvest, which may be ready in February or March. We will most likely process the coffee using the washed process if the rain or the atmosphere is humid. However, if the drought is persistent, we shall dry them using the natural process. We shall share some differences between Coffee arabica and robusta in the next few posts. We shall also experiment with some de-pulping and coffee bean roasting methods to bring out the best in our coffee.
#LoveHomeGrown
